Hanger for clothing and the like



Feb i6, 1932. F. G. wHlTTlNGToN HANGER FOR CLOTHING AND THE LIKE` Filed May 12. 1930 Patented Feb. 16, 1932 UNITED STATES IBEDEBIX G. WHITTINGTON, 0F EVANSTO', :ILLINOIS RANGER FOR CLOTHING AND LIKE I Application med nay 12, leso. serial 110.451.547.

The invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in a hanger for clothing and the like adapted for attachment to vertical surfaces as the walls of a closet or 5 any other analogous location upon which it is desired to attach a hanger for supporting articles of clothing or any article of like nature in ,a home or store and it has for its main'A I tion, although it will be apparent to those object the provision of improved means in a ,0 hanger device that will permit the utilization of space ordinarily out of reach of an o ra tor or user. For example, in the ordinary closet or room and in some tall cabinets it is common to find much waste space on the walls 5 thereof above the ordinary hooks or supports inthe form of rods and the like provided for supporting articles thereon.

My improved device permits the utilization of much wall space heretofore wasted or usc- 0 less beyond the reach of the ordinary person standing upon the ioor and the utilization Aof such formerly wasted space is an important economic f consideration, especially under modern conditions i'n the clties where apart- 5 ments are designed with the idea of utilizing as much wall space as possible. l

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description, which is directed to the preferred embodiment of the invention as depicted in the drawings forming a part of the specification, the novel features being set forth in the-appended claims.

In the said drawings, Fig. 1 vis a side elevation of my improved i device attached upon a substantially vertical wall surface, shown in section.

' Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the device of Fig. 1 inr which the casing for illustrative.

purposes is shown in section and the movable i parts of the device are shown in both full and dotted line positions to graphically illustrate the mode of operation.

Fi 3 is a transverse horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

i Fig. 4 is a similar horizontal sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2,. looking in the direction" indicated by the arrows, and

Fig. 5 is a similar detail horizontal sectional View on the line 5+5 of Fig. 2. The reference character l() designates generally a vertical casing member preferably formed, as shown in the drawings, of suitable sheet metal of sutlicient stren h to adequately support the movable portlons of the device and the weight ofthe clothing or other Ii articles to be supported thereby. The casing 10, as illustrated in the drawings, is shown of a substantially circular form in cross secskilled Ain the art that the invention may be 60' embodied in a casing construction of other shapes in cross section without departing from the purpose and spirit of the invention. The casing, for-example, may be polygonal or elliptical in cross sectional form, necess- 05 tating certain modiications of the movable portions of the device that will occur to those skilled in the art. In the embodiment shown, the movable port-ion of the device takes the lform of an elongated rod of a suitable'size 7 to adequately-support from the bracket portion or portions thereof articles to be carried or supported by the device, as indicated generally kby the reference character 11, the upy per end of which is formedat substantially u right angles to the body portion, as indicated at 12, the extremity thereof being shown as formed with a sharp upward bend as at 13,

to serve as a hook or keeper to insure the retention on the horizontally extending arm 12 89 of hangers as,shown in dotted lines, as of a diminutive form, for illustrative purposes only in Fig. 1. In Fig. 2 the movable rod 1'1 together with the supporting arm 12 carried thereby or forming a part thereof is shown 85 as reciprocal'ly supported within the casing 10'in a manner that will permit the horizontally extending arm portion 12 to traverse substantially the entire vertical length of the casing 10. This result I accomplish by forlr- 9 in a vertical slot which extends longitudina y through the wall of the casing, as indicated at 14, Figs. 2 and 3. The slot 14 will obviously be of a width suicient to permit the horizontal and angular portion 12 to re- 95 ciprocate vfreely substantially throu hout the len h of the casing to attain the egree of edjustability as lindicated by the respective full and dotted line positions of the movable parts in Fig. 2. The slot 14 also must neces- 10 sarily be of a width sucient to permit the body portion 11 to be oscillated or swung from the full line position to the dotted line position of the part 11, as illustrated in lllig.v 2, this bein@- a step preparatory to lowering the device from its elevated position as shown by fulllines in Fig. 2. The casingl 10 may be supported by any desired means 1n a. vertical position and when supported upon a vertical wall suitable screws or other desired fastening means, as designated by the reference -character 15, may 1 be passed through erforations in the wall of the casing, pre erably diametrically opposite the slot 14, the slot obviously permitting the easy introduction of a tool for introducing and securing such supporting screws to their holdingposition within the wall or other vertical surface upon which the device is supported, such vertical surface being designated generally by the reference character 16. On the vertical portion 11 of the movable part of the device l provide spaced apart collars 17, 18 which will preferably take the general form of the interior opening within the casing member 11 and will be of a size to substantially correspond with the inner diameter of the casing, at the same time permitting the collar 17 to slide easily along the interior surfaces of the casing for securely holding the article supporting portions of the device in all of the various positions of movement. The collars 17 and 18 may be secured to the rod or shaft 11 by any suitable securing means as by soldering or brazing or may be formed integrally with the rod 11, if desired, but l prefer to secure them upon the rod by pinching or upsetting the material in the peripheral surface of the rodgll on both the upper andlower surfaces of these collars, for the sake of eiiciency and economy in manufacture.

Since the upper fastening screw 15, as shown in Fig. 2, is substantially above the upper limits of normal .movement of the rod 11. l use a screw with an inwardly projecting head thereon, designated by the reference 'character 19, thereby forming a stop against an excessive upward movement that might resultl in freeing the upper collar 17 from the casing and permitting the accidental detachment of the hanger part from the casing, should the collar 17 be permitted to pass beyond the upper limits of the casing.

The casing 10 is provided with a horizontal slot designated by the reference character 20, Figs. 1. 2 and 4. The slot or kerf 20 will preferably extend horizontally inwardly to approximately the center of the casing, thereby cutting away a suiicient amount of the wall of the casing at a suitable distance adjacent the lower end thereof to easily permit the introduction of the collars 17 and 18 into the interior of the casing in a manner to be hereinafter described. With the hanger Lseaeei wall of the casing 10 on diametrically opposite y portions of the Acasing as designated by the reference characters 21 and 22, Figs. 1, 2 and 5. lf desired, the material at the locations y 21, 22 may be cut or sheared before being formed inwardly along lines of cut indicated by the reference character 23, Figs. 2'and 5.

ln the operation of the device, from the above description of the constructionl of the various parts thereof, it will be seen that when the casing 10 is secured in its vertical position the hanger rod 11 with its angular portion 12 may be introduced into the casing by firstinserting the collar 17 into the slot 20 to substantially the position that the collar 18 is shown occupying in full lines in Fig. 2, under which conditions the hanger rod 11 will occupy substantially the position shown in dotted linesv in Fig. 2, with the lower collar 18 thereon positioned below the lower extremity of the casing.

1n this posit-ion the inwardly formed stops 21, 22 will adequately support the upper collar 17 and the pendant hanger rod 11 will be in a position where support against oscillation on the fulcrum formed between the collar 17 and the stops 21, 22 will be obtained from the adjacent wall surface so that clothing or other desired articles may be placed upon the laterally extending arm 12 and supported thereby until the operator is ready to raise the movable supporting portions of the device to the upper and out of the way part of their adjustment. as illustrated by the full line position of the rod 11 in Fig. 2. When the horizontal supporting arm 12 has been lowered to the dotted line position, as shown in Fig. 2, and the load of garments or other obJect-s placed thereon, the device is ready to be elevated, which may be accomplished by the operat-or grasping a'suitable handle formed or attached to the lower extremity of the rod 11, the lower end of which will be slightly delected, as indicated at 24, and the handle portion preferably taking the form of a sphere of some suitable material, as designated by the reference character 25. The reason lt prefer the spherical form to be grasped by the operator is that with a considerable load suspended from the horizontal arm 12 of the device, the spherical form of handle Oilers the maximum degree of comfort when the load is borne in the palm of the hand of the operator in the elevation movement of the load. The operator` therefore. may grasp the handle 25 and freely elevate the loaded device to the dotted line positions shown in Fig. 2 but in order to secure the load in the elevated position, it is necessary that the device be brought lower collar 18 approaches the lower limits of Sill the casing, the operator will swingthe rod or shaft 11 in the manner indicated by the dotted line positions in Fig. 2, and when the collar 18 reaches a position in alignment with the slot 20, it may be freely passed into its normal positionk or rest, as indicated in Fig. 2, where the 'entire weight of the load will be substantially borne upon 'the collar 18 and the supporting inwardly formed abutments 21, 22. In this position, obviously, the load may be sustained as longas the lower end of the rod 11 and its supporting collar is undis` turbed from the abutments 21 and 22, and it will furthermore be obvious that with the improved device as described, the load carried by the horizontally deflected arm 12 will be elevated to substantially the upper fend of the casing and out of the way of articles that might be supported on the wall surface at lower levels, the normal supporting position of the arm 12 being completely out of the normal reach of the operator, thus utilizing space for hanging articles not heretofore Lavailable without providing supplemental means such as ladders and the like for the convenience of the operator. ff

Furthermore, it will be seen that-when any considerable load is supported on the arm 12 with' the movable device in its normal elevated osition shown in full lines in Fig. 2,

. the welght of the load acting upon the arm and the collar 17 as a fulcrum will tend at all times to force the lower collar 18 into the slot 20 and upon the top of the abutments 21, 22 so that there will be no tendency for the collar 18 to become detached while in the load supporting position. In fact, it requires lift and pressure upon the part of the operator in grasping the handle to oscillate the loaded device to the lowering position shown by the lVhen it is desired to lower the hanger arm 12 it will be-obvious that the reverse of the before described operation will be necessary, namely, the operator grasping the handle 25 and pulling out the rod 11 and the collar 18 from the casing to substantially the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2, when the load may then be lowered to the position indicated by the dotted lines of the parts in this View.

While I have shown in the drawings and' described in the specification the preferred form or embodiment of the invention it is not desired to be, limited to the details of construction except as indicated by the claims, for it will be apparent that various modifications, especially of the details of construction of the casing 10 and the movable portions of the device will occur to those skilled in the art without departing fromthe spirit and purpose ofthe invention;

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An adjustable hanger comprising an elongated hollow casing there being a longitudinal slot in the casing extending approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis thereof, an elongated rod, means carried by said rod whereby it may be movably supported within the casing, and a hanger arm forming an integral part of the upper end of-said rod and projecting radially and 4laterally through said slot in the casing.

2. An adjustable hanger comprising an elongated tube-like casing provided with a longitudinal slot in the wall thereof, there .being a-perforationin the casing wall opposite said slot and accessible through said slot, means co-operating with said perforation adapted to secure said slotted casing to a substantially vertical Wall support, an elongated rod provided with an enlarged portion adapted to engage the interior of the slotted ,y casing whereby the said rod may be movably supported within the casing, and a hanger' arm carried by said rodand projecting laterally and radially therefrom through the said` slotted casing.

` 3. An adjustable hanger comprising a substantially cylindrical casing provided with a longitudinal slot through the wall thereof, there being a pair of spaced apart perforations vthrough the casing wall opposite said slot and accessible through said slot, means adapted to co-operate with said perforations for supporting said casing in a substantially vertical position upon a vertical wall, an elongated rod provided with an enlargement adapted to engage the interior of said cylindrical slotted casing whereby said rod may be movably supported for longitudinal movement within the casing, and a hanger'arm loo carried by said rod and projecting laterally and radially therefrom' through said longitudinal slot in the wall of said casing.

4. An adjustable hanger comprising a slotted casing adapted to be secured in a substantially vertical position upon a vertically extending wall support, al1-elongated rod movably supported within the casing, a hanger arm carried by said rod at the upper end thereof and projecting laterally and radially from said slotted casing, a hand operating member carried by said rod at the lower extremity thereof and being adapted in all positions of adjustment of the hanger to extend below the lower end of the casing, and co-operating locking means carried by the said rod and the said casing for securing the said rod and hanger armcarried thereby in the load carrying position of the hanger adjacent the. upper end of the said casing.

5. An adjustable Yhanger comprising a hollow casing provided with an elongated slot extending substantially from end to end thereof, an 'elongated rod movably supported within the casing, ahanger arm formed integrally with the upper end of said elongated rod and projecting laterally and radially through said elongated slot in the casing, and a collar co-operating with the interior diameter of said casing secured to said rod adjacent the point of union of said hanger arm with said rod for movably supporting said rod within the casing.

6. An adjustable hanger comprising a. hollow casing provided with an elongated slot extending substantially from end to end thereof, an elongated rod movably supported within the casing, a hanger arm formed integrally with the upper end of said elongated rod and projecting laterally and radially through said elongated slot in the casing, and a hand-operating member for said rod and hanger arm projecting therefrom through the lower extremity of said casing.

7. An adjustable hangerV comprising a. slotted casing, an elongated rod movably supported within the casing, a hangerarm carried by said rod and projecting laterally and radially from said slotted casing, a collar on said rod adapted to reciprocate on" the interior bore of said casing, a hand operating device upon said rod adapted to normally project from the lower extremity of said casing in all positions of adjustment thereof, and co-operating means upon said rod and said casing for locking said rod and hanger arm in adjusted load carrying position with said hanger arm projecting radially from said casing near the upper extremity thereof.

8. An adjustable hanger comprising a slotted casing, an elongated rod movably supported within the casing, a hanger arm `carried by said rod and projecting laterally and radially from said slotted casing, a collar carried by said rod near the upper extremity thereof, a second collar carried by said rod upon that portion ofthe rod adjacent the lower end of the casing when said hanger rod is in its elevated load carrying position, and

means carried by the casing for locking each of said collars in load carrying positions when the rod and hanger arm carried thereby are adjusted so that said collars are contiguous with said locking means.

9. An adjustable hanger comprising a substantially cylindrical slotted casing, an elongated rod movably supported Withln the casing and being provided with a portion there-` of projecting from one end of the casing with a. handle secured thereon, a hanger arm carried bly said rod and rojecting laterally and radia y from said s otted casing, a pair o spaced apart collars carried by said rod, one

of said collars being carried by Said rod adjacent the upper extremit thereof and the other collar carried by Sai rod in a position thereon adjacent the lower extremity of the casing when the" said rod and hanger arm 'are in their normal elevated carrying posiaes-aaai tions, and vmeans upon the casing for engaging the said respective collars for locking the rod and hanger arm carried thereby in their adjusted load carrying positions.

l0. An adjustable hanger comprising a substantially cylindrical slotted casing, an elongated rod movably supported within the casing, spaced apart collars carried upon said rod and being adapted to reciprocate on the interior of the said casing, a hanger arm carried by said rod and projecting laterally and radially from said slotted casing, there being a second slot in said casing communieating with and intersecting the aforesaid slot in the casing through which the said hanger arm projects, the last said slot being adapted to permit the insertion of each of said spaced apart collars on said rods to the interior of the casing, and means carried by the said casing for limiting the movement of said collars in one direction of their movement within the caisin l1. An adjustable hanger comprising a metallic casing provided with a longitudinal slot extending substantially from end to end thereof, an elongated rod within the casing of a diameter less than the width of said longitudinal slot in the casing, a hanger arm carried by said rod and projecting laterally and vradially through said slotted casing, means for securing said casing to a substantially ver- A tical wall, an operating handle secured to said elongated rod at the end thereof remote from said hanger arm, there being 'a slot in the lower end of the casing intersecting the aforesaid longitudinal slot, a plurality of spaced apart collars carried by the said rod and being adapted to reciprocate on the inner, `bore of the casing and to pass through the aforesaid transverse intersecting slot, and means carried by said casing adjacent the said transverse slot for co-operatin with said collars to lock the said rod and hanger carried thereby in adjusted load carrying ositions, said means comprising an inwardly projecting seat.

12. An 'adjustable hanger comprising a metallic casing provided with a longitudinal slot extending substantially from end to end thereof, an elongated rod within the casing of a diameter less than the width of said longitudinal slot in the casing, a hanger arm carried by said rod and pro] ecting laterally and radially through said slotted casing, means for securing said casing to a substantially vertical wall, an operating handle secured to said elongated rod at the end thereof remote f from said hanger arm, there being a slot in the lower end of the casing intersectingv the aforesaid longitudinal slot, a plurality" of spaced apart collars carried by the said rod and being adapted to reciprocate on the inner bore of the casing and to pass through the aforesaid transverse intersecting slot, and means carried by said casing adjacent the said transverse slot for co-operatin with said collars to lock the said rod and anger carried thereby in adjusted load carrying positions, said means comprising a. palr of inwardly projecting seats formed adjacent said transverse intersectin cally opposite sides of sald casing by com pressing the walls of said casing toward the center thereof.

13. An ladjustable hanger comprising a slotted casing, an elongated rod movably supported within the casing and comprising a and operating extension adanted to project normally below the normal end of the casing, a substantially spherical shaped hand operating device secured to the lower end of the rod, and a. hanger arm carried by said rod and projecting laterally and radially from said slotted casing.

. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this siecification, on this 22nd day of A ril A. 1930. v

REDERIK G. WHITTINGTON.

slot on diametri- 

